Local tours rather than take POA trips

[augiesmom]

My mother and I are looking at a November cruise on the POA.

 

We took the 10 day Panama cruise in March, and on 2 of the days off the ship, I found 2 seperate local tour groups which met our needs, and were more reasonable in price.

 

Both local groups were recommended on this site. I am once again reviewing Shore Excursioneers for Hawaii, as they gave us a great tour in Costa Rica.

 

But wondering if anyone has other recommendations? My mom so enjoyed the ones I discovered for the Panama Cruise, so would to be able to find some good ones again for the islands of Hawaii.

 

thanks!

[Sauer-kraut]

Most people seem to rent a car in every port and DIY. My Mom and Dad in their 80's) did Hawai'i with local public buses and were happy with doing that.

 

If you go to the Hawaii PORTS OF CALL board you will find lots of information. Some even post their cruise port reviews over there, so I'm sure you'll come across recommended tour operators.

 

I think a helicopter tour would be fantastic!

[df5250]

We just returned from our Hawaii vacation. We rented cars in every port to self-tour. However, we did book two Kauai excursions directly with the companies.The first was Kauai Backcountry Adventures Mountain Tubing Adventure. We booked the tubing for the Thursday Morning the POA arrived in port, with an original plan to drive the rental car to the tour, but we ended up taking a cab due to a time constraint.

The second was a helicopter tour with Mauna Loa tours on Friday Morning. We were able to take a free shuttle from the port to the tour company at Harbor Mall and back to the port. Both tours were phenominal. If you are interested in tubing, it needs to be booked early because it sells out! Hope this helps!

[Freckles_51]

If you don't want to rent a vehicle:

 

Maui: We had a small van tour with Maui Paradise Tours and had Yamuna as our guide. Very good tour of West Maui with yummy fresh lunch, snacks and water included - approx. $99 with min. 4 in the van (you do not have to fill the vehicle with your party, they will do it). You have to pay when booking but I believe it is refundable with reasonable notice. I believe this company is fairly new - maybe 3-4 years in the business. Look them up on Trip Adviser. Note that they cannot take tour groups up to Haleakala, but we didn't have time for that anyway. You can customize the tour if others in the same vehicle are willing.

 

Hilo: Marylou's is very popular amongst cruise critic members. We had a wonderful tour with her. Also customizable if others in the vehicle are in agreement. $85 pay at the end of the tour

 

Kona: Marylou's son does tours here, but we did not book anything. This is a good port to get off the tender and onto the $2 shuttle bus to a beach or just ride the round trip, take a walk around the port - lots of shops and restaurants.

 

Kauai: We did an NCL tour on the first day. 2nd day we walked over to the small shopping area, beach and through the Marriot - a nice relaxing morning for the final day.

 

Enjoy!

Edited June 6, 2016 by Freckles_51

[punkincc]

My mother and I are looking at a November cruise on the POA.

 

We took the 10 day Panama cruise in March, and on 2 of the days off the ship, I found 2 seperate local tour groups which met our needs, and were more reasonable in price.

 

Both local groups were recommended on this site. I am once again reviewing Shore Excursioneers for Hawaii, as they gave us a great tour in Costa Rica.

 

But wondering if anyone has other recommendations? My mom so enjoyed the ones I discovered for the Panama Cruise, so would to be able to find some good ones again for the islands of Hawaii.

 

thanks!

 

 

Kauai and Maui, car rentals and heading out on your own is your best bet for taking in the most sights. $30 to $60 for an entire day vs the cost of enough individual private or ship tours to fill a day. Car shuttles are at the ship, so very easy. No need to book tours unless you want something really specialized like ocean snorkeling, whale watch, river tubing etc.

 

Do a helicopter for Kauai if you can fit it in the budget. We like Blue Hawaiian, booked direct. They pick up at the ship. We have done Mary Lou's in Hilo, and also booked with them for Kona with son Kyle. These are small group tours, guided only by family, not hired guides. Of course you can easily go the rental car route on the Big Island as well, but sometimes you just want to sit back and relax, and Mary Lou's offers such small groups, and they are super friendly folks and it is very relaxing. I would not book anything with a tour where you will be shuttling around in big tour buses.

[VideoTech]

My mother and I are looking at a November cruise on the POA.

 

We took the 10 day Panama cruise in March, and on 2 of the days off the ship, I found 2 seperate local tour groups which met our needs, and were more reasonable in price.

 

Both local groups were recommended on this site. I am once again reviewing Shore Excursioneers for Hawaii, as they gave us a great tour in Costa Rica.

 

But wondering if anyone has other recommendations? My mom so enjoyed the ones I discovered for the Panama Cruise, so would to be able to find some good ones again for the islands of Hawaii.

 

thanks!

 

As others have said, most people simply rent cars at the POA ports and do their own thing. Aside from looking at the Hawaii ports of call board, you might also want to read some of the POA reviews posted on Cruise Critic..they will give you insight into how other people chose to handle the POA shore time.

[Mellymouse]

We rented a car for the almost 2 days in Maui & it worked out very well. Driving to Lahaina for the 'Old Lahaina Luau' was stress free. At night we parked the car across the street from the cruise terminal in front of Long's drug store near the road. We were told if we spent $15 in the drug store & put the receipt in the car window the car would still be there next morning & it was. My sister was with us & it was too long a walk for her so we were able to let her off close to the ship. This was in January 2017 & it looked like they were ?remodeling the area we walked through. We went snorkeling & whale watching which I booked before we left thru companies I found on-line.

 

In Hilo we took the Enterprise shuttle to airport to get a rental car for the day. Then walked across the street to take the Blue Hawaii helicopter 'Circle of Fire & Waterfalls' ride, absolutely amazing seeing the volcano from the air & that evening from the ship. Bring binoclulars! After the helicopter we drove to Volcanos NP & later to Liliuokalani Gardens a very peaceful place. We returned the car & took shuttle back to ship... easy peasy.

 

Kona is the only place we did an excursion from the ship because it was the same price if we booked directly from the company.

 

In Kauai we used 'Kauai Island Shuttle & Tours' for both days. I highly recommend this company. It was a private tour for the 3 of us & on the 2nd day they adjusted the North Shore tour so we were back to the ship in plenty of time. In Kauai we encountered several traffic jams & avoided one because our tour guide anticipating a problem & took a different route.

 

It was our first time to Hawaii & the 3 of us felt it was the perfect introduction to this beautiful state. We booked the Cruistour & we enjoyed our busy days in Oahu.

 

I hope this is helpful.

[Candy Apple 12]

We rented a car for the almost 2 days in Maui & it worked out very well. Driving to Lahaina for the 'Old Lahaina Luau' was stress free. At night we parked the car across the street from the cruise terminal in front of Long's drug store near the road. We were told if we spent $15 in the drug store & put the receipt in the car window the car would still be there next morning & it was. My sister was with us & it was too long a walk for her so we were able to let her off close to the ship. This was in January 2017 & it looked like they were ?remodeling the area we walked through. We went snorkeling & whale watching which I booked before we left thru companies I found on-line.

 

In Hilo we took the Enterprise shuttle to airport to get a rental car for the day. Then walked across the street to take the Blue Hawaii helicopter 'Circle of Fire & Waterfalls' ride, absolutely amazing seeing the volcano from the air & that evening from the ship. Bring binoclulars! After the helicopter we drove to Volcanos NP & later to Liliuokalani Gardens a very peaceful place. We returned the car & took shuttle back to ship... easy peasy.

 

Kona is the only place we did an excursion from the ship because it was the same price if we booked directly from the company.

 

In Kauai we used 'Kauai Island Shuttle & Tours' for both days. I highly recommend this company. It was a private tour for the 3 of us & on the 2nd day they adjusted the North Shore tour so we were back to the ship in plenty of time. In Kauai we encountered several traffic jams & avoided one because our tour guide anticipating a problem & took a different route.

 

It was our first time to Hawaii & the 3 of us felt it was the perfect introduction to this beautiful state. We booked the Cruistour & we enjoyed our busy days in Oahu.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

Which excursion did you do in Kona? How was it?

[Mellymouse]

We did the Body Glove cruise with snorkeling. Great snorkeling & lunch. In the afternoon we strolled around Kona, church, palace & drink at outside 2nd floor restaurant. Wonderful day. Kona was the only port that was in a lovely area.